Bayer

Bayer AG is a global holding company for a number ofpharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrochemicals, healthcare, plastics and other materials subsidiaries. The company operates in the United States through the Bayer Corporation. Bayer, also referred to as the Bayer Group, operates some 315 companies worldwide. Bayer is in the leadership of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In the 2010 fiscal year, the company reported sales of approximately $50.1 billion dollars and had over 100,000 employees.

Support for the American Legislative Exchange Council
Bayer is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and is on ALEC's corporate ("Private Enterprise") Board. Sandy Oliver, who is VP of Public Policy and State Government Affairs at Bayer, is the Treasurer of the Private Enterprise Board of ALEC.

Products
Bayer's health care division makes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and drugs for animals. It also makes plastics. Its agricultural products division makes agrochemicals for crops and home garden products. Besides its well-known line of Bayer aspirins, its brand names include Aleve, Alka-Seltzer and One-A-Day vitamins. Its top selling pharmaceuticals include Betaseron (multiple sclerosis) and Yasmin (birth control). As of 2011, Yasmin is one of the only birth control pills with a class-action lawsuit against it.

(overview and history section moved to discussion page)

Animal testing
Bayer does participate in animal testing.

Facility information, progress reports & USDA-APHIS reports
For links to copies of a facility's U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Animal Plant Health Inspection (APHIS) reports, other information and links, see also Stop Animal Experimentation NOW!: Facility Reports and Information. This site contains listings for all 50 states, links to biomedical research facilities in that state and PDF copies of government documents where facilities must report their animal usage. (Search: Berkley, California; Richmond, California; West Haven, Connecticut.)

USDA AWA reports
As of May 26, 2009, the USDA began posting all inspection reports for animal breeders, dealers, exhibitors, handlers, research facilities and animal carriers by state. See also USDA Animal Welfare Inspection Reports.

Contract testing
Bayer contract tests out to Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). Huntingdon Life Sciences is the 3rd largest contract research organization (CRO) in the world and the largest animal testing facility in all of Europe. Firms hire CROs to conduct animal toxicity tests for agrochemicals, petrochemicals, household products, pharmaceutical drugs and toxins. HLS has a long history of gross animal welfare violations. See also Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Ambien
Ambien - is a prescription medicine prescribed for insomnia. According to research studies, side effects from Ambien are experienced by up to up to 4% of patients. The most common side effects are daytime drowsiness, diarrhea and coordination problems. Side effects range from mild to dangerous, such as vision changes, depression and hallucinations. Other of side effects of Ambien, as well as other sedative/hypnotic medicines are addiction adn abuse; "sleep-driving," "sleep-eating," and rebound insomnia after discontinuing use.

Sleep walking, talking, driving & eating
Of the strange nocturnal behaviors reported, sleep walking, talking and even driving, is far more common than sleep-eating. Though the side effect is rare, most sleep doctors are familiar with patient stories of night time refrigerator raids, ovens left on at night and food appearing in the bedroom. While many sleep-eating patients were prescribed Ambien, it is not clear whether it is more likely to cause sleep eating than other sleep medications.

In some states, Ambien has made it onto the lists of the top ten drugs found in impaired motorists. Motorists driving under the influence of Ambien have smashed into parked cars; driven the wrong way down busy highway and woven in between lanes. According to reports, the drivers sometimes have no recollection of getting behind the wheel, after being pulled over. According to Laura Liddicoat, a toxicologist at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene in a March of 2006 interview on Good Morning America:


 * "It certainly seems to me that the warnings are not sufficiently clear to the general public."

According to a report on drivers arrested in Wisconsin in the previous 5 years, 187 had Ambien in their bloodstream.

Baycol
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pulled Baycol (cerivastatin) off the market after the drug was linked to at least 100 fatal adverse drug reactions (ADS). Baycol was a cholesterol-lowering drug, purported to reduce the risk of heart attacks. The drug was prescribed to approximately 700,000 Americans. FDA physicians linked the drug to a rare muscle side effect which destroyed tissue and released it into the blood stream. Patients commonly suffered severe muscle pain in the lower back and calf muscles. In the most severe cases, condition led to kidney failure and death.

The drug was pulled from the market in August 2001 due to its muscle-weakening side effects. In January of 2007, the Houston Business Journal reported that Bayer would pay out $8 million dollars spread over 30 states. The settlements included $200,000 to Texas, over the companies failure to fully disclose health risks to patients with specific conditions. The terms also extended to the disclosure of clinical studies involving other Bayer drugs with possible health risks. According to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott:


 * "Texans deserve to be fully informed about the adverse effects of their medications. This agreement ensures that patients have access to the information they need to make educated health care decisions."

The terms required Bayer to register the results of its clinical studies on the internet. Also, that marketing, sale and promotion of Bayer pharmaceutical and biological products must comply with the law and not include false or misleading claims. In 1997, the FDA approved Baycol, which Bayer began marketing in May 1998. While patients taking statin drugs frequently experience muscle-weakening, Bayer did not disclose that the product posed significantly greater than normal side effects. Concealing risks in the name of profit, violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Political contributions
Open Secrets reports that in 2010, Bayer's PAC gave $479,216 to federal candidates. House Democrats received $128,000 and Republicans $151,400. Senate Democrats received $40,000 and Republicans $81,600.

Bayer gave $319,482.000 to federal candidates in the 2008 election through its political action committee - 42% to Democrats and 58% to Republicans.

Lobbying
Bayer spent $4.2 million on lobbying in 2010, as reported by Open Secrets. Bayer uses its own lobbyists, instead of other firms. The following were lobbyists in 2011: Julie Corcoran, Ronald F Docksai, Thomas B Lilburn, Jean D Reimers, Dakotah J Smith, Jennifer Spurgat, Donna Stephens, Robert D Thomas and Juliane H Van Egmond.

You can see a full list of bills Bayer lobbied for for the past five years {http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmbills.php?id=D000000629&year=2011 HERE].

Bayer spent $8,498,512 for lobbying in 2009 in the U.S. Seven lobbying firms were used, however, themajority was spent on in-house lobbyists.

Annual Revenue
2010

Net Sales: €31.2 billion Gross Profit: €16 billion

2009

Net Sales: €35.1 billion Gross Profit: 17.9 billion

Personnel

 * Manfred Schneider - Chairman
 * Hermann Strenger - Honorary Chairman
 * Thomas de Win - Deputy Chairman
 * Dr. Paul Achleitner - Member of the Supervisory Board effective April 2002
 * André Aich - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Willy Beumann - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dr. Clemens Börsig - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dr.-Ing. Thomas Fischer - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Peter Hausmann - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Prof. Dr.-Ing. e.h. Hans-Olaf Henkel - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Reiner Hoffmann - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dr. rer. pol. Klaus Kleinfeld - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Petra Kronen - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dr. rer. nat. Helmut Panke - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Hubertus Schmoldt - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dr.-ing. Ekkehard d. Schulz - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dr. Klaus Sturany - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Roswitha Süßelbeck - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Dipl.-ing. Dr.-ing. e.h. Jürgen Weber - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Oliver Zühlke - Member of the Supervisory Board
 * Karl-Josef Ellrich - Member of the Supervisory Board

Bayer Corporation in the U.S.

 * Gregory S. Babe, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bayer Corporation and Bayer MaterialScience LLC


 * Roland Backes, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions


 * Lars Benecke, General Counsel, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer


 * Claus Fey, Vice President and Country Group North America HR//Business Partner


 * Stefan Hesse, Vice President, Corporate Auditing


 * Jens Lohmann, Chief Accounting Officer and Biltroller


 * Mark A. Ryan, Chief Communications Officer, Bayer Corporation and Bayer MaterialScience LLC


 * Willy Scherf, Chief Financial Officer


 * Tracy Spagnol, Vice President & Treasurer


 * Paul F. Wright, Vice President, Tax

Bayer Health care

 * Sandra E. Peterson - Executive Vice President

Contact
Headquarters Bayerwerk, Gebäude W11 Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee 51368 Leverkusen, Germany

Phone: +49-214-30-1

Fax: +49-214-30-663-28

U.S. Office 100 Bayer Road Pittsburgh, PA 15205

Phone: 412-777-2000

Fax: 412-777-2034

Web address: http://www.bayerus.com

Web address: http://www.bayerhealthcare.com/scripts/pages/en/index.php

Web address: Web: http://www.bayercropscienceus.com

SourceWatch articles

 * Agricultural Biotechnology Council
 * Animal testing
 * Biotechnology
 * Chemical companies, lobbyists and agribusiness
 * David P. Ropeik
 * Food and Drug Administration
 * Huntingdon Life Sciences
 * Monsanto and the Roundup Ready Controversy
 * National Primate Research Center System
 * Pharmaceutical industry
 * Rockefeller Foundation

External resources

 * What´s new?, Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, accessed January 2011